Carlos Felipe Balcazar (CV / Paper) is a PhD Candidate in the Wilf Family Department of Politics at New York University, where he specializes in International Political Economy (IPE) and Political Economy more generally. His research examines how international economic competition shapes domestic political outcomes, specifically: the political power of organized labor; populism and policy against globalization; and democratization.
"I am PhD candidate at New York University’s Department of Politics and a Student Affiliate for the Identities and Ideologies Project. I hold a BA in Economics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and an MA in Economics from Universidad de los Andes.
My current research focuses on four topics: The effects of automation on the political power of organized labor, and its implications for public policy; The impact of international economic competition on politicians’ incentives to use elite cues and identity politics, and how this shapes policy against globalization; The role of tariffs and redistribution in the link between international trade and democratization, and domestic conflict; The role of citizen learning in the link between climate change and anti-incumbent mobilization, peaceful and otherwise. Methodologically, I use game theory and natural experiments to uncover the mechanisms under which international economic change shapes domestic politics and policy.
Recently I acted as an Organizer for GSIPE Workshop and as the Managing Editor for Economics & Politics. Before graduate school I worked as Research Analyst at the World Bank and as a Research Fellow at the Inter-American Development Bank, doing policy-oriented research on poverty, inequality, education and labor markets. My work has been published at Journal of Development Economics, Economics Letters, Review of Income and Wealth, Journal of Economic Inequality and Higher Education."